ROAN ANTELOPE

Like last week I am continuing to show you another antelope I saw at the Haven Game Park in Malawi.  This week it is the turn of the Roan Antelope. 

The Roan Antelope (Hippotragus equinus) is a savanna antelope found in West, Central, East and Southern Africa. It is the namesake of the Chevaline project, whose name was taken from the French Antelope Chevaline.

 Roan antelope are one of the largest species of antelope. They measure 75–94 in from the head to the base of tail and the tail measures 15–19 in. The body mass of males is 534–661 lb and of females is 492–617 lb. The shoulder of this species is typically around 51–55 in.

Named for their Roan colour (a reddish brown), they have lighter underbellies, white eyebrows and cheeks and black faces, lighter in females. They have short, erect manes, very light beards and prominent red nostrils. The horns are ringed and can reach a metre long in males, slightly shorter in females. They arch backwards slightly.

They are similar in appearance to Sable Antelope and can be confused where their ranges overlap. Sable antelope males are darker, being black rather than dark brown.  I did a post 2 weeks ago about the Sable.  

If you wish to see it or see the comparison with the Roan, CLICK HERE

Roan antelope are found in woodland and grassland savanna, mainly in the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, which range in tree density from forest with a grassy understorey (such as central Zambezian Miombo woodlands) to grasslands dotted with few trees, where they eat midlength grasses. They form harem groups of five to 15 animals with a dominant male. Roan antelope commonly fight among themselves for dominance of their herd, brandishing their horns while both animals are on their knees.

I hope you enjoyed this post and I thank you for visiting.

For some of the other antelopes I posted previously, CLICK Nyala, CLICK Sable, CLICK Eland and CLICK Common Waterbuck.

Many thanks for leaving comments.